Wineglass Half Marathon Race Recap Part 2

October 9, 2014

After a fun Friday of exploring Corning, picking up our bibs, and visiting the Corning Glass of Museum, we headed to bed early because the next day we were visiting a couple wineries!

Around Town – The Wineries

There are several wineries in the Finger Lakes region. The Seneca Lake Wine Trail has over 30 wineries! My mom did a little research and we visited two- first, Lakewood Vineyards. Located in Watkins Glen, this vineyard is about a 30 minute drive from Corning.

We paid $2 each for a tasting of 5 five wines (what a steal compared to the Napa and Sonoma wineries I visited last year). If you bought a bottle…or 2 or 3… the $2 went towards the purchase.

Afterwards, we headed to the town of Hammondsport, to visit Bully Hill Vineyards (my favorite of the two). Fun fact, Hammondsport was named one of “American’s Coolest Small Towns” by Budget Travel Magazine. Perched on a hilltop, this property had stunning views, a tasting room, restaurant, museum, and gift shop. For $5 we had a tasting of wines. There was definitely more people here, but not overwhelming.

For lunch we ate at their restaurant – I had a delicious Apple Cider Sangria (they made it with their Chardonnay).

My mom had a BBQ sampler, which was pretty tasty!

Dinner

After a fun day at the wineries, we headed back to Corning for an early dinner. Prior to our trip my mom called Sorge’s Restaurant in Corning to make dinner reservations. The restaurant said while they typically take reservations, they would not during Wineglass weekend due to the number of people in town, but they suggested arriving early.

I guess everyone had the same idea, because at 5:30pm there was a 1.5 hour wait for a table to two. Instead of waiting for a table, we took our order to go and ate at the hotel. The Italian food was good, but I am glad we did not wait that long for a table.

Race Goals (“A” least probable and “C” most probable)

Because this was part of my training run, I did not run this half at race pace. Here were my goals for this half:

A – Run at an E/L pace of 12:00-12:30/mile
B – Run the entire half without music (want to try to do this in NY)
C – Finish my 18 mile long run (13 of which will be the half).

The excitement of the half would make it difficult to run at an E/L pace, so that is why I made that my A goal.

Wineglass Half Marathon

According to the race site, “The Wineglass Half Marathon is a point-to-point course from Campbell, NY to Corning, NY. It is a fast, flat course with an overall net elevation drop of about 40’. The course runs through several small towns and along scenic country roads and finishes on Historic Market Street in downtown Corning, NY.” Although the elevation chart appears to be all downhill, the course was pretty flat.

Because this was a point to point course we had to take buses to the starting line in Campbell (the full marathon started in Bath). Buses were running from both the towns of Bath and Corning beginning at 5:30am. After running 4 miles in the morning (I had 18 miles scheduled for the day), grabbing a bite to eat (banana, peanut butter, and toast), we headed to Corning for the buses. There were plenty of city lots and garages to park your car.

The bus ride to Campbell was about 15 minutes long and runners were able to wait in a local high school before the start – clutch since it was about 30 degrees out! As I was running through the high school to find a bathroom, I ran into Sharon at Run Hike Play! Check out her recap here – she had an awesome PR!

There was a long line for the indoor bathroom, so I headed back outside to use the porta potties and drop off my bags. Lines were short and I got use to the temperatures.

My mom and me before the race.

Gorgeous sunrise.

The start was about .2 miles from the high school, a very simple starting line. We self-organized and I lined up by the 2:30 pacer – I know, I know…. already breaking my running plan of going easy/long. The race started at 7:45am (I think it actually started at 8:00am) and the marathon started 13.1 miles north, 15 minutes later.

For miles 1-4 we were treated with views like the below.

It was a bit crowded at first since we eventually merged into a single lane road. There was one small hill after mile 1, but did not feel difficult to me after running the Perfect 10K the weekend before.

Around mile 3, I realized it was not smart of me to stick with the 2:30 pacer, I needed to stick to my plan and I would have plenty of opportunities to race a half in the future.

Miles 6-8 had us running along a road – it was not very scenic, but that soon changed for the last 5 miles of the race when the course took us through a park and the residential areas of Corning. The finish was on Market Street and there were loads of people cheering at this was the finish line for both the half and full marathoners. I finished with a time of 2:36:38 and cooled down for .9 miles to complete my 18 miles for the day.

I know I left everyone with a teaser on Tuesday… was this a PR?! While it was my third fastest time, it was not a PR. My mom actually had the PR, she shaved 14 minutes off her half time! She is a speedy walker! I did not accomplish my “A” goal, I really should not have been going at that pace; but I was able to run the entire race without music (I want to try to do this for my marathon – I do not want to miss the sights and sounds of NY).

Final Thoughts

Great race experience from the expo all the way to the finish line.
The town was so welcome and hospitable. Everyone is so nice here.
If you like wineries there are plenty to see. I wish I had a chance to do some hiking.
There is a 5K option on Saturday – distances for everyone!
This half is walker friendly – I do not believe there was a course time limit b/c it shared the line with the marathoners.
The volunteers were great, particularly the water stops “Gatorade to the front, water in the back.”
Speaking of water stops, there was plenty! There was a stop almost every 1.5 miles (helps when there is a marathon).
The course was beautiful and scenic, although there were cones in the middle of the roads (I think runners were support to be on the right hand side), so you had to be careful not to trip on them.
Mile marker 4 was misplaced (it was at 4.93), but that did not bother me at all… mile marker 5 was around the corner.
The post run exit was organized as it extended down Market Street. There was even soup in the food line!
Great running weather. Last year it was 76 degrees – yikes!
A gorgeous glass medal!
This would make for a great girls weekend, couples getaway, mother-daughter trip, or family weekend.